Filling-feeler mechanism for looms



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- Snvinon S. Monson, or nvnn man, BOSTON',MASSACHUSETTS, Assieivon To man STAFFORD COMPANY, or nnen-VILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, A. CORPORATION or MASSACHUSETTS.

FLLNG-FEELER MECHANSM FOR LOOMS.

Application filed November *14, 1923. Serial No. 674,685.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, SIMEON S. Jackson. a Subj ect of Great Britain, residing at Hyde Park, Boston, in the county of Suffolk, StateY of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Filling- Feeler Mechanism for Looms, of which the following is a specification, reference being .had therein to the accompanying drawings. The invention has relation in general to the depletion-detecting mechanisms, cominonly termed feeler mechanisms, which are employed in looms for the purpose of forestalling complete exhaustion of the supply of weft or filling contained in the working Shuttle upon the lay-beam of a loom. These -mechanisms in general are contrived to call, or indicate, or iiiit-iate, as it is `variously termed, a change in the operation 'of the loom, upon detecting that the progressive depletion of the said supply has reached a stage decided upon as a minimum.

This change involves in some cases automatic replenishing of the working supply of the weft or iilling without stoppage of Vthe loom; in others it involvesV stoppage of the loom, with' automatic replenishment during the stoppage, followed by automatic restarting of the loom. a f

The invention relates' more especiallyV to feeler mechanisms of the side-slipping class. A feeler mechanism of this class hasa feeler member which enters the shuttle during a Vfeeling action to contact with the; wound mass of filling therein, this member being designed to slip or swing lengthwise of the shuttle while in contact with the shuttlecontents. It is held from such movement by engagement with the wound mass within the shuttle so long as an adequate supply of weft or filling for continued weaving remains,

but slips or swings sidewise, that is, lengt-hwise of the shuttle, in the absence of a sufficient supply, and through the change-calling mechanism of the loom calls the change n aforesaid.

v.nection of parts, and modeof operation,

hereinafter described,A and comprising lthe combinations which are Set forth in the claims at the close of this specification'.

nk feeler mechanism ina'ccordance with the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in whicli,- i

Fig. 1 kis a plan view showing the ysaid mechanism mounted atfone end of the breastbeam of a loom, with the parts in their normal positions. v

Fig. 2 is a view in vertical section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows. a y

' Figs. 3 and are views inVV vertical section made on lines 8--3 and-4 4, respectively,

of F ig. 1, looking in the directions indicated bythe arrows. 7

Having reference to the 'drawings,

- The feeler-inember 1 'is conveniently formed with"` a straightportion or shank adapted to slide in ya direction -fore-and-aft of the loom in guides'2, 3, provided in 'upstanding lugs 4, 5, respectively, on the feelervstand 6 which is Xed on the arm 7 'fastened Shown) of the loom` The guide 2 occupied by the intermediate portion of the shank of theffeeler-member l'is a yguide-way,` of con- -siderable'widtln so that the feeler-m'ember may Swing or slip laterally ina horizontal planefwithin the said guideway upon occasion; Vthe cover 12 is provided to bridge such guideway and holdY the feeler-member therein, being itself secured by--screws `13j 13, to the lug 4. The front guide is formed topermit slight lateral Swinging'action of the feeler-member. f

The feeler-member l is held rearward in its normal presentation position 4shown in Fig. 1 by means of an expanding spiral spring 14 which surrounds'its shank and is confined between the forward lug 5 on feelerstand@ and a collar 15 which is securedtothe feeler-member 1 by a clamping screw 16. The cover 12 has formedat its inward end a forwardly projecting cam surface 17 withk which a nosel 18 upon the collar 15 engages, when spring 14 givesthe;feeler-member its rearward' presentation position, thesaid cam acting to hold the feeler-member over against the righthaiidwwall of guide 2, as shown. 5 Afconnection 19, comprising simply a rod or Wire, serves to combine the feeler-member l with the latclrcontrolling bolt 27 described hereinafter. This connection 19 is combined with the collar 15 fixed' on the feeler-member, by having its downturned end 20, Fig.

"ffityput througha vhubV 21 `formed-ion the col- "'l'arltandsecured bya Cotter-pin through fsaidendjbelowl the collar. It is provided withacollar22 fixed thereon-by a clamping "sorewf23,"and`-,a contracting" spring 24, en-

lfgage'd atene end Vwith such screw 23 and at rthe other anchored by ascrew 25`toa small j'standi26'mounted on the breast-beam 8, 'le'erts'tupon the collar 15 and hence upon ythe 20:"feeler1nemberr1 -a lateral pull inwardly of the loom.- When the feeler-'member 1 is lrearfvard,'itstendency'toslip or swing sidewise "under this lateral pulllis resisted by the, en-

gagement of the cam surfaceY 1 7 with the nose ,25 T18 fon the collar-lyandfthe feeler-member 1"occtipies the'positionshown, at the right- `5handsidev of theguide 2. "When the lay comes forwardA in beating up, and Yt-he shuttle-'coa tents ""'en'"gagev "the `filling`engaging portion 10 `will'befoarriedforward out of contact with 'the-cam surface .17, but-ifthere remains a ``si`iflicientf'supply vwithin the shuttle for con- "*ti`r`1i`u'ed weaving, the filling-'engaging portion "10" withits sei-rations* 11" will catch on the f j" turns -of filling' and prevent the feeler-mem- "berf-from swinging laterally inward in obe- 'I''d'iec'e to thepull vof-spring 24. `That is, the feler-inember will 'slide forward iii/guides 2iand' 3 underthe push of the" shuttle-con- "*tentsyinoving only inthey direction ofits "length fand with no side-slipping action; g no -inater'ial'movement'of"connection 19 occurs 451-inthe'direetion of the latters length.

At its inward or left-hand end the connec- `1"tion 19 is combined with the latch-controlderfthe notch 33.

lingtbolt 27,'the latter being mounted in a bore extending transverselypthrough a small ""stand 26, the -downturned end 28 of the connection being'hoolzedinto' a suitableone of several holes 29, v29, which are provided in the bolt '27:and secured by a cotter-pin30- stand 26 has a notch 33 extending fore-and.'

rait' whichr intersects the bore in which the bolt 27 slides,VV and in this notch rests an eX tension 34 from the side of the latch 31. This "extension may be of any suitable form, such as thatfshown herewith, where a piece of round wire or stock is threaded at one end,

.put through ahole in the latch 31, and fixed by jam-nuts 35,35, applied at opposite sides of the latch. The wire or stock extends outwardly from the latch, then downwardly and rearwardly,\and is turned upslightly atA its l lVhen the`r wound mass olf-filling within the\fshuttle has 1 become substantially depleted, so that the few remaining turns of filling are rno longerable to rhold the feelermember fro-m Y slipping Vsidewlse on the nearly bare filling-carrier under the pull of spring 24 when the feeler-member y1 is pushed` forwardY in alfeelingaction so that vthe-nose -18 on the collar 15 is free of the cam- 17 vand the feeler-member swings inwardly of the loom to the kleft-hand side of gu-deway' 2, about theforward guideway 3 as a center, this swinging movement involves acorresponding lengthwise movement yot the yconnection Y19. This in turn moves vbolt 27 *inwardlyvso` that the cut-away place 37 therein fisfcarriedbeneath the extension 34 ofthe latch. The extension 34 immediately dropsinto the cnt-away'` place 37, and the `latch 31a-drops onto the vibrating weft-hammer 32, where its rearwardedge 38 isy engaged by theshoulder36 on the weft-hammer, and the rlatch is driven forward to actuate the change-calling mechanism` and. call the change.

After the feeler-member has `slippedsidewisetocall the change as just described, it is restored-to its normal presentation position, that isto say, straightened up again, by the -reengagement of cam -17 and nose 18,

as the -feelerLmembermoves rearwardly with 'the receding lay. This action draws the bolt 27 outwardly, namely to the right, and withdraws the cut-away` place 37 fromA un- Thus, when the latch 31 returns as-the weft-hammer 32 swings rearward, andits extension 34 reenters the notch 433, the rounded vrear end of such extension V34-rides up and over theroundedwtop surface of -bolt 27 at a point wheresuch bolt 4isof full diametenand so lifts the latch out of? engagement with the weft-hammer 32. rThe whole feeler mechanism is thus automatically reset, I and ready to f begin again the-feeling Yaction upon o aA fresh supply of filling within the shuttle.

jWhat is claimed as the invention is,-- y 1. Tntfilling-feeler mechanism comprisingv a-feeler-member aci'suatedy forwardly through engagement of the shuttle, contained illing-mass therewith spring-actuated rearwardly into initial position and movable lli Vsaid latch,

sidewise or detecting purposes, fixed guides occupied by the eeler-memloer permitting sidewise detecting movement of the 'feeler-member, :i v resetting cam7 a latch which is an element of change-calling mechanism, and weft-hammer, the combination therewith of a latch-supporting holt which when moved endwise releases the collar xedljy attached to the teeler-memher, engaging with the rotar guide to limit the movement of the 'eeler-memher rearward, and with the cem to effect resetting, and a wire connecting said collar with said bolt Iand swinging in unison with the iore-sndett movements of the freeler-meinber.

2. in iilling-feeler mechanism comprising u eeler-member spring-actuated rearwardly into intial position and movable sidewise for detecting purposes, fixed guides occupied by the eeler-memher permitting sidewise oletecting movement of the freeler-member, a resetting cem7 a latch which is an eiement of change-calling mechanism, and at weft-ham mer, the combination therewith of a sliding latch-controlling bolt, a projection on the feeler-memloer engaging with the rear guide to limit the movement of the eeler-memher rearward, and with the cam to eect resetting, and a wire connecting said holt to the eeler-memher, swinging in unison with the fore-and-at movements of the eeler-memher, and moving the bolt endwise when sideslipping of the eelenmemher occurs.

srMnoN s. Monson 

